Circle Seating Part II

I've received several emails recently about a previous post "Circle Seating With A Twist." Here are further instructions you may find useful... Circle seating means "seating in the round." Chairs are set up in a circle.

A platform may be placed in the middle of the circle upon which you and your partner can stand with your officiant. Anyone who comes up to speak, steps up onto the platform. By setting chairs in a circle, every guest gets "the best seat" in the house. You can double layer the circle if space is limited or the size of the circle loses its intimacy. With a guest list of 100, for example, I recommend making the inner circle 40 chairs and a second row, or outer circle, of 60. The platform can also hold a chuppah or an arch to provide a precise point of focus for your guests and to accentuate the "sacred space" for your marriage ceremony.

If you want an aisle, you can make one by not quite "closing" the circle -- in other words, remove three chairs from the circle to create a space to walk in and out of. Indigenous cultures, however, would say that it is important to close the circle prior to beginning the speaking portion of the ceremony so that the energy of the experience doesn't leak out. Think of the ceremony area as a container to "hold" you during the ceremony. Closing the circle after your walk down the aisle would be like putting the lid on the container. Another way to think of it is that you create for yourself the feeling of being cradled with love when you state your vows. Closing the circle may be done as simply as having one of your attendants tie a ribbon from a seat on one side of the aisle to the nearest seat on the other side. Then have an attendant untie the ribbon before you walk back down the aisle at the end of the ceremony.